Trump administration says no final conclusion on Khashoggi murder

"Recent reports indicating that the U.S. government has made a final conclusion are inaccurate," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement. "There remain numerous unanswered questions with respect to the murder of Mr. Khashoggi." Nauert said the State Department will continue to seek facts and work with other countries to hold those involved in the journalist's killing accountable "while maintaining the important strategic relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia." Trump, while flying to California on Saturday, discussed the CIA assessment by phone with the agency's director, Gina Haspel, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters. The CIA had briefed other parts of the U.S. government, including Congress, on its assessment, sources told Reuters on Friday, a development that complicates Trump's efforts to preserve ties with the key U.S. ally.